[Arlo previously]
By this same logic, schools in America in regions of "less diverse
culture" should do better than both schools in America and schools in
F/J in areas of "largely diverse populations".
[Craig]
Bad sampling. You need to compare schools in cosmopolitan Tokyo to a
cosmopolitan American city & in rural Oklahoma to rural Japan.
[Arlo]
Well the variable in question was only that schools in areas with
"less diversity" perform better than schools in areas with "more
diversity". You are adding a new variable (urban-rural) to the
equation, saying that population-size also has an effect on
educational performance (hence the need to hold it constant).
But if we compare (as had been the original case in point with
Finland and Japan) areas there are here we DO see that in both
urban-urban and rural-rural comparisons, they outperform us most of the time.
The question, I suppose, then becomes. Is there truly less diversity
in rural Japan than in rural Oklahoma, so much so that this alone
accounts for the difference in education results? And this takes us
back to, how are we defining "diversity"? Because if we compare
Oklahoma City to, say Funabashi, I'd want to know what variables are
being used to determine one is more diverse than the other.
[Craig]
Again, bad statistics. In order to be legitimate, you need to
compare a diverse school district with bottom -up control with one
with top-down control & a non-diverse school district with bottom-up
control with one with top-down control.
[Arlo]
But, again, Craig, the only variable in question was that schools in
areas with "less diversity" perform better (when education is handled
via "central planning") than schools in areas with "more diversity".
"Top-down" and "bottom-up" control simply adds another variable to
the equation. Indeed, you seem to say here that comparing schools
with different levels of "diversity" is in err, since both of your
comparisons pit only "top-down" against "bottom-up". In my example
(SC/BE), both schools have "top-down" planning, both are "public
state schools", so those variables are held constant. The difference
is really only one of "diversity". Well, the SC district is larger,
but educational results take this into account. Its not that SC has
MORE high performing students, but a greater percentage of the total
student population performs better. So, again, I think its valid to
ask, why does SC outperform BE if, as is being suggested, schools in
areas with "less diversity" perform better than schools in areas with
"more diversity".
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